NDDC to build power pool in Niger Delta

PORT HARCOURT—Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has said it was in discussions with a Chinese firm, SINOTEC Company Limited, to build a power pool in the region, adding that there was need to balance power supply among the many electricity users in the region.

NDDC

The Managing Director of NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere, who disclosed this in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday at a meeting with officials of SINOTEC, noted that the project when completed will stimulate industrial growth in the region.

Ekere, represented by the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Mr. Samuel Adjogbe, noted that the region produces more of oil and gas business, stressing that NDDC was interested in setting up the regional power pool to provide adequate power that will subsidize an industrial park planned for the nine states of the region.

He said: “We have looked at some indicators and it is obvious that the power requirement for industrial growth in the region is not available. So, we need to make deliberate effort to set up projects that can boost power and attract investors to the region.”

Ekere expressed satisfaction with the report of a feasibility study on the project, stating that the next stage will be to prepare the actual design and thereafter produce an agreement to spell out the conditions and terms of engagement.

However, the NDDC Consultant and Managing Director of Income Electrik, Mr. Matthew Edevbie, while presenting the scope of the power pool project, explained that the project will adopt a strategy “to harness the cheap, abundant, reliable and available power in the Niger Delta region.”

Meanwhile, General Manager of SINOTEC, Mr. Bu Songo, harped on the need for a Public, Private partnership for the development of a power plant in the Niger Delta, adding that international funding was critical to the successful execution of such projects.